Bruno Pereira

Bruno da Cunha Araújo Pereira (August 15, 1980-June 2022) was a Brazilian indigenous expert and defender of the causes of native peoples.

In 2019, he led the largest expedition to contact isolated indigenous people in the last 20 years. However, after pressure from rural sectors linked to the government of Jair Bolsonaro, he was removed from his post in October of that year by the then executive secretary of Sergio Moro in the Ministry of Justice, Luiz Pontel.

Personal life

Bruno was married to the anthropologist Beatriz Matos, with whom he had two children. He also had a third child from another relationship.

Murder

In June 2022, along with British journalist Dom Phillips, they were killed while traveling through Valle de Javari, the second largest indigenous land in Brazil, at the western edge of the Amazon. They went to interview the indigenous people in a place called Lago do Jaburu and then moved to the community of São Rafael, where they would meet with a local fisherman.  The crime occurred on the road between the community and the municipality of Atalaia do Norte.

Pereira and Phillips received death threats for their work helping protect Indigenous people of Amazonas from drug traffickers as well as from illegal miners, loggers, and hunters.

Two brothers were detained by the Brazilian Federal Police (PF) on suspicion of being involved in the disappearances. Days later, one of them confessed that he had killed Bruno and Phillips and told the Federal Police where he had buried the bodies, as well as the place where the boat in which Phillips and Pereira were traveling sank.  The police found human remains in the indicated place and did not rule out more arrests. However, forensic analysis still needs to be completed to confirm that the bodies are those of Bruno and Phillips.

One of the two brothers, nicknamed "El Pelado", was arrested a few days after June 5, accused of possession of illegal ammunition.  In addition, his boat was seen chasing Bruno and Dom's when they were near their destination, the city of Atalaia do Norte. They disappeared on June 5, and everything suggests that they died around that date.

References

Category:2022 deaths